Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: National Security Advisor Lt Gen (r) Nasser Khan Janjua Tuesday said the genocide of Khojaly showed that the world of today still had to go a long way to invest and preserve humanity.

He was speaking as chief guest at a seminar on ‘Crimes Against Humanity-Genocides and Ethnic Cleansing’, organised by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) in collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to mark the 100th anniversary of 1918 genocide of Azerbaijanis and also 26th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide.

Among others, the seminar was attended by Ali Alizada, ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan; Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul, ambassador of the Republic of Turkey and Dr Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, Professor School of Politics and International Relations at Quaid-i-Azam University.

A short video of the atrocities committed during the Khojaly genocide was also shown on the occasion.

Lt Gen (r) Janjua stated that the sufferings of both the people of Kashmir and Azerbaijan were very much similar. He stated that more than before, the soldiers of today have to learn not to be unethical. Kashmir is in a constant state of unrest because India is committing crimes against humanity there on daily basis, depicting how strategic and economic interests could overwhelm humanity, he added.

He also congratulated Azerbaijan on its remarkable progress across a wide spectrum in the past 25 years, which shows farsightedness of its leadership.

On the occasion, Ali Alizada gave a detailed overview of the Khojaly genocide and said that as with other such crimes, it can never be erased from the history. He pointed out that Kashmir issue awaited justice, and said that both the Khojaly and Kashmir issues should be resolved in an amicable way in accordance with the international laws.

“All the tragedies that have befallen Azerbaijan in the 19th and 20th centuries, accompanied by the seizure of our land, have been different stages of a conscious policy of genocide and ethnic cleansing systematically applied by the Armenians against the Azerbaijani people,” he said. “As National Leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev said that Khojaly massacre is the bloodiest page of the policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide continuously conducted by the Armenian chauvinists and nationalists against the Azerbaijanis over around 200 years,” he added.

On the occasion, Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul said that Azerbaijan’s suffering was Turkey’s suffering as well. He said that humanity was not doing enough to prevent such crimes from taking place again. In order to resolve this issue, the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan should be made clear first of all, he said, adding this calls for engagement which is falling on deaf ears on part of Armenia since they are busy promoting a very unjust narrative of their own. “This needs to be stopped,” he added.

Dr Jaspal gave a brief history of genocides and crimes against humanity citing them as an old phenomenon. He said that crimes against humanity gain more momentum if ignored, thus every instance of crime against humankind must be accounted for. He stated that if security, peace and prosperity are to be established at both regional and international levels, the international community will have to adopt statutes without identifying ethnicity or religion.

Earlier in his welcome remarks, Chairman ISSI Ambassador Khalid Mahmood talked about how Pakistan always supported the just Azeri stance. He said that there was a marked similarity between the people of Kashmir and the people of Azerbaijan. “Both have suffered a horrendous tale of repression. Like Armenia, India too remains in defiance of human rights and international humanitarian laws and remains in violation of UN Security Council resolutions,” he said.

He said that Pakistan was beholden to the people of Azerbaijan for their steadfast principles regarding Kashmir and sooner or later justice will triumph and prevail.

Published in Daily Times, February 21^st 2018.